He said: "He is the captain, leader, on the pitch and off the pitch and he's a great player, so we'll miss him, of course."

But he played down the significance of being without left-back Ashley Cole for the first time in 65 league games.

Ryan Bertrand and Jose Bosingwa are vying to replace him and Villas-Boas said: "We have full trust in Ryan's abilities. It's a game of massive importance based on recent results and the fact that we have Man United, the champions, at home.

"Difficult decision to be made (on Saturday) when we practice strategically for the game."